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Round two out in the Eastern conference saw what was a much-anticipated matchup between two of the premier young stud point guards in the league. MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous Alexander for the 2^nd seed Milwaukee Bucks and DeAaron Fox for the Philadelphia 76’s

Both teams cruising through their 1^st round match-ups to this epic encounter. 

And that’s where the excitement and anticipation ended for the 6ers and GM Nenjabin (Ben) with Milwaukee and GM Badwolf cruising into the 3^rd round unblemished. 

While the 4-0 sweep looks like it was comfortable the 6ers squad and DeAaron Fox pushed the bucks to the limit in all four games with an average winning margin only 12points

Matchups – 

Myles Turner vs DayRon Sharpe

DayRon was good in the series matching up on the bigger more fancied veteran big man unfortunately it was a case of needing to be great not good. Myles the much bigger man was more prominent in all areas PTS, REBs and Blocks per game. 

Evan Turner vs Precious Achiuwa

Much like the previous matchup the size of Evan Turner was too much for Precious to overcome and the key reason to Milwaukee’s success in the series. Like Myles above Evan was too big dominating all areas of the matchup. Having two 6’11 big men on a 6’9 C and a 6’8 PF was always going to bode well for the bucks.

Paul George vs Peyton Watson

David vs Goliath was the SF matchup unfortunately for David (Peyton) the famous story wasn’t going to manifest itself here with Paul George playing an amazing series as the second option on offense.

Matisse Thybulle vs Malcom Brogdan

This is where the matchups start to swing towards the sixers and their backcourt strength. Matisse a defensive presence was able to really get it done over the offensive polished Malcom Brogdan who was the second option for Philli. 

Shai Gilgeous Alexander Vs De’Aaron Fox

The blockbuster matchup of point god vs point god was the highlight of the series but in a way the matchup was always going to be a wash with both players cancelling each other out of the contest. Both men played as intended putting up efficient monster scores in the 4 games series. 

It was however always going to be a case of who wins the other matchups on court 

Bench Battle

Sims, Oneal, Shroeder, Prince vs Westbrook, Wiggins, Powell, Yurtseven, Garuba

The classic 4-man bench vs the 5 man bench. Westbrook was easily the best player available to call on for a six-man role and one might argue the sixers Bench had a little more juice to it. And that showed to some extent on the score board with Russell leading the way with 10, 2 and 2 per game. 

Game – 1

6ers flew out of the gate behind superstar point guard De’Aaron Fox going into quarter 2 with a 7-point lead, both teams battled hard for the balance of the half. It was however the 6ers going to oranges with a small lead on the score board. 

And that’s where the positives ended for Philli with SGA taking the game by the neck erasing the half time deficit and going into the 3^rd with a 7-point lead. 

Philli and Fox did their best to come back it just wasn’t to be, the depth of roster in Milwaukee and superstar point God SGA proving too much in the end. 

Player of the game – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 30 points 6 assists 4 rebounds

Game – 2 

Philli came out fired up in game 2 of the series looking to even up the series against a formidable buck’s outfit. And what a start it was, just like game one came out of the blocks fast. 

Fox the man to lead his team. Unlike game 1 the domination continued into the 2^nd quarter. With the 6ers lead by Fox going to oranges with a commanding 13-point lead.

Unfortunately for Philli the GM in Milwaukee had the team primed for a big second half. Led by Shai, Mobley and Paul George the 6ers just couldn’t quite hang on eventually going down 9 points to a very well-rounded team

Player of the game – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 34 points 4 assists 7 rebounds

Game – 3 

2 games in the hole, it really was a case of now or never for the desperate 6ers team. Shai however was having none of that coming out in qtr. 1 with bad intentions and no backward steps. Giving the Bucks a healthy 1^st qtr. lead.

Despite the heroics of De’Aaron Fox who led the way with a whopping 48pt performance its was the Bucks through Both Shai and Pg13 that had too much in the tank for the team out of Philli

Player of the game – De’Aaron Fox 48 points 5 assists 2 rebounds

Game – 4

The game that mattered most for both teams in the second round, its was either the 6ers and Fox spark a series defining comeback or the Bucks and Shai drive the final nail into the coffin of Philadelphia’s season. 

And it turned out to be the latter with Shai exploding for a series personal high of 41 points and sending the high-flying Bucks into the conference finals 

Player of the series   - Shai Gilgeous Alexander

Their can only be one name really and that is Shai Gilgeous Alexander the NBA / NSL superstar MVP candidate wasn’t single handedly the reason for the Bucks success during round 2 but was most certainly the catalyst and leading light for the Bucks success not only during round 2 but for the entire NSL season.

		POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	ST	BS	TO	PF	PTS	+/-	TCH	TWB
		PG	33	12-23	0-2	6-6	1	3	4	6	1	0	3	2	30	16	63	394
		PG	32	14-23	0-1	6-8	2	5	7	4	2	2	3	2	34	23	72	391
		PG	35	11-19	1-1	12-12	2	6	8	12	1	0	2	1	35	3	67	370
		PG	34	18-28	2-3	3-5	2	3	5	6	1	0	4	2	41	7	79	354

Series Overview

Based on series predictions and overall season standing  is anyone really surprised the bucks are advancing to the conference finals? With Shai leading the way the entire season ably backed up by Paul George and Evan Mobley who in my opinion were the difference between the two teams. Shai and De’Arron was the classic point god matchup but being able to lean on PG13 in times of need and Evan Mobley interior presence and crashing the glass is what separated the teams. 

If / when the 6ers add a genuine glass crashing big man to the roster watch out league. Unfortunately for GM Ben it just wasn’t to be. Congrats to the bucks on a fantastic season and success for future seasons to come